RZA Says The Wu-Tang Clan Almost Didn’t Happen

Yep, according to the group’s leader RZA, there was a couple of incidents that almost stopped the legendary nine-man crew from ever coming together to form like Voltron.

In an interview with CNN, the producer/rapper reveals that he details an incident in the early 90s — which he writes about in his new book The Tao of Wu — when Wu member Method Man was almost gunned down in a drive-by.

RZA says that Meth was walking down a block in Staten Island to buy some weed, and he spotted him and called him over.

“Come over here, yo!” he said, as written in his new book. “He stopped and came running over. A few seconds later — pow-pow-pow-pow-pow! — a guy started shooting up the front of 160. A buddy of ours, Poppy, an innocent, school-going, nice guy — he was shot and killed right there.”

Their friend died, but they lived on, and eventually went on to become one of New York’s and hip-hop’s most legendary groups — launching nine successful solo careers and acting careers as well.

That wasn’t the only “what ifs” though. RZA almost caught a case one year before they formed in 1993, which would’ve put him behind bars for eight years. But, he was acquitted.

RZA says that if one, or both of those situations took place, the Wu-Tanf Clan would’ve never come to fruition.

“Either one of those incidents could definitely have derailed it. Of course, myself being the abbot, the one who came with the idea, if I wouldn’t have made it out of that tumultuous time — it seemed like I wasn’t going to make it out of it; there was a lot of odds against me — but we stood strong, and self-defense made sense to the jury. We beat that,” he told CNN.com.

RZA’s book, The Tao of Wu, hits stores October 15th. It’s available on Amazon.com for $16.50.